We have just completed the last interview day for the MBA class of 2013. In the last two years, more than 300 people have attended one of the six interview days that we host every year. It is a big commitment from us and I thought it was timely to reflect on why we host interview days.
Firstly, the term interview day is a misnomer because the programme actually starts the evening before with a dinner at one of the colleges. All interview day candidates and any partners are invited to attend. Current MBA students and my team will be there as well. This is an informal setting and it is to give candidates a taste of what college life is like. Personally, it took me several months before I truly appreciated the value of the college experience. Every MBA student, and this is the case for all Cambridge students, are members of a college. The college is the social and intellectual glue that binds the University — in practical terms, it is the place where our MBAs can meet students and faculty from across the university. The strength of one’s network depends on how wide it is, so being able to meet bright people who have nothing to do with the business school is invaluable.
We want our interview day to reflect the values that we treasure. One of these values is collaboration. People collaborate when there is obviously a reason for collaboration, but also they need a foundation of trust in each other’s competencies and social trust in each other. This is why we make the interview day dinners a social, informal affair.
On the day of the interview itself, there are presentations about the school and career services. These sessions have become more Q&A rather than presentations as we see that candidates know most of the information about the programme through our website, this blog and other online fora.
Unique among business schools, all our interviews are conducted by members of faculty. As you can imagine, that’s a huge commitment on the part of the school, but we feel that it is vital to have faculty involved in the admissions process. Faculty spend a lot of time with our students and it is only right that students who are admitted demonstrate to faculty that they will be a joy to teach in our class, and be worthy alum ambassadors.
Most recently, we have introduced a new segment to the interview day and that is a small group session with two of our external career advisors. Unlike some other schools, we do not have careers input into the admissions process — this is so that our admissions decisions are not swayed by employability factors (which are temporary in one’s life) but are based on factors such as academic abilities, intellect, personal impact, and impact in the work environment. However, we do recognise the importance of post-MBA careers to our candidates when they make the decision to embark on their MBA journey. So starting in Rounds 4 and 5 this year, we have organised small group sessions with our external careers advisors. This is not part of the admissions process but our external careers advisors give valuable input to our candidates about what they should do to maximise their MBA experience from a careers standpoint. This is also part of our overall careers strategy of working with our students even in the summer months before they start their MBA on aspects such as CV writing, prospects in certain sectors etc, so that more of our students achieve their career goals. So far, the statistics have been very encouraging. 97% and 91% of the last two MBA. classes were employed within 3 months of graduation.
After lunch at the University Centre with current students, interview day candidates are taken on a walking tour of central Cambridge. Our Director of the MBA programme makes it a point to encourage students to take the time to look up, and imbibe the rich history of Cambridge. We are very fortunate that there is a group of dedicated tour guides who are passionate about Cambridge and their walking tours are now almost legendary among interview candidates. The walking tours are also a great way to emphasise the University that the business school is part of.
The day then ends with afternoon tea where candidates can again meet current students.
In summary, the main purpose of the interview day is of course to make an admissions decision on candidates. And in this regard, there is no difference in the chances of gaining admission if you attend an interview day vs being interviewed over the phone. However, the interview day is also a platform for us to showcase our values and allow prospective students to make a decision on whether they are a good cultural fit with the school.
